TOKYO MOTOR SHOW: MAZDA BRINGS BACK ROTARY (ALMOST)

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Konnichiwa from 2015 Tokyo Motor Show! Mazda debuts what promises to be the RX-9, the successor to the rotary powered RX-8 that departed in 2012.

Sugoi! (“Awesome” in Japanese)… but they kind of left out the engine.

Mazda is bringing back the rotary engine. Dubbed the SkyActiv-R, the next gen rotary will power the swooping, graceful concept car presented at the show. But the concept car didn’t contain the engine, so we’re left in an abyss of mystery what it will be like.

Not even a speculation about technical details. All we know is it’s front-engine, rear-wheel drive.

Mazda’s engineers may still be puzzling through the significant challenges rotary engines pose to meet fuel efficiency and emissions targets.

Below is what the last Mazda RX-8 looked like. Based on the concept car, what a leap forward on the design front, eh?